The Living Games
A/N Hello my gracious people who read this story. So, when you get to chapter eight, which I've just finished writing the first half, things will get crazy. Like insane! But, needless to say, it will be amazing. If you thought any sister of Aubrey's was going to go into the Capitol without kicking some serious rear-end, then you just might be crazy, like me. Welcome to the better side. We have been expecting you. Sorry! I'll stop with my useless babble now, if babble is even a real word . . .
Chapter Six: Their brains might as well be as useful as a Merchant in the woods
(*Dodges flying shoe from Aubrey*)
("I'm a strong Merchant!")
(Sorry!)
Entering the house wasn't as weird as Aubrey thought it was going to be. For starters, her parents acted as if nothing happened. Then they made her dinner and sent her off to bed, like they were trying to calm her. The mess on the floor was cleaned up, and nothing seemed out of place.
She was immediately suspicious.
Why would her parents be so nice to her knowing what happened and how crazy she was? Did the games start early and Arianna die? No, no. That wasn't it. She felt stupid for even thinking of it. Whatever happened, Aubrey never let it out of her mind. She thought about it the whole time she was getting ready for school.
Walking to school, she had to pass the big screen in the Town Square. Since she had time to spare, and she didn't really care if she was late, she decided to catch up on what she missed yesterday.
They were playing re-runs from the opening ceremonies.
District 1 was dressed in this clear, sheer body suit not leaving much up to your imagination, modeling luxury and getting lots of sponsors, as usual.
District Two had two strong tributes, the boy being at least 6'4, and the girl was short with big muscles. Yikes. They were sporting gladiator outfits.
District three was as pitiful as usual, dressed up as electronics and getting no sponsors.
District Four had a boy who looked smaller than their usual, but Aubrey didn't count him out. The girl was strong from fishing, and tall. She was also beautiful. That meant lots of sponsors.
Districts Five and Six were nothing special.
District Seven had tributes with strong arms, but they were not very good looking or strong in any other area. They were not to be counted out, but they weren't a big threat.
Districts Eight, Nine, Ten, and Eleven were okay.
And she suddenly knew why her parents were trying to make her as calm as possible. She saw her sister and her district partner, Jones.
She didn't like what she saw.
The only person who had seen Arianna the way she was at that moment at the parade was her family when she was a baby. And Aubrey wanted to keep it that way even though it was out of her control a the moment.
She was naked.
Fucking naked.
What—The—Hell.
In what dumb ass universe that those stupid Capitol people come from made this alright? It wasn't alright!
Aubrey knew she was going to explode. She wanted to go on a mission to the Capitol and personally murder everyone who dared to even breathe.
Her parents' attempts were exactly that, attempts, because they failed. Horribly.
That stylist was garbage! An absolute idiot! Aubrey could make a better outfit than her with her eyes closed! Closed.
Her brain must be the size of a pea. If she even had a brain.
Unlikely.
Her brain—if she had one—must be covered in glitter, and dyed pink with purple highlights.
The rest of her walk to school was more of an angry stomp, with a get out of my way or else look on her face.
Walking into the school building made everyone look at her. It was very hard to not notice someone when they slammed the door very loudly and kicked it for good measure.
Kids were practically diving to get out of the way when she walked down the hall.
Perfect. Just how she liked and wanted it.
By the way she was glowing with anger, you'd think everyone would stay away.
Oh, all but one person.
She felt the arms before she saw them. They wrapped around her waist and turned her around.
"Hey, Zane," she sighed. She was feeling better already.
"How'd you know it was me?"
"Because if anyone else had done that, I would have already killed them."
"That doesn't answer my question. And ha, you won't kill me because you love me too much."
"You'd think."
"I do."
"You think so? I don't think you think a lot. But who cares what I think?"
"Count how many times you said think in that last sentence."
Aubrey couldn't help but laugh. Zane made her smile and laugh even when she was about to murder someone.
They compliment each other.
You'd think that when Zane was around, and the fact that Zane kicked his ass, that Bronc would stay away from Aubrey.
Guess the stylist for District Twelve isn't the only dumb person.
Seriously, their brains might as well be as useful as a Merchant in the woods. Or a normal Merchant, at least.
"I saw your sister on the screen, naked. I knew it looked familiar!"
Aubrey was trying to keep her cool, but Bronc's comment made her so angry she was pretty sure there was smoke coming out of her ears.
She never was one for self-control anyway.
"Looks like it runs in the family." Bronc said. "You both love to get naked, don't you?"
Aubrey couldn't even breathe. Bronc had talked about her, what she did, the rumors, and about her actions, but never about her family. This was crossing the line. Talk about her family, or Zane, and your getting your ass kicked.
She felt like she might explode if she didn't get out of the building, or punch someone. She knew she had to make the right choice, or something bad might happen.
She looked at Zane, and he looked even madder than she was, which seemed impossible. She knew he was about to do something either crazy, or stupid.
Gone was the sweet fifteen year old.
Zane let go of her and got in Bronc's face.
"Shut up! Don't talk about Aubrey or Arianna like that!"
Bronc cracked his knuckles.
"Or else what? What are you gonna do about it?"
Zane's face was dark and angry. His eyes held a storm in them.
"I'll break your face if you don't stop."
Bronc snorted. "You couldn't hurt me if you tried. You're just a weak little Seam boy who can't even feed himself and your slut of a girl—"
Zane punched Bronc dead in his face and stopped his insults.
"You know nothing about me!" he slammed Bronc against the lockers. "Don't pretend like you know me!"
Bronc gasped and pushed Zane off of him.
"You wanna go? Let's go!"
Aubrey wasn't really sure if cheering Zane on was the smart thing to do, but she was itching to see Bronc get his butt kicked for real.
Bronc lunged at Zane and they started fighting.
A small crowd had formed around them, and people were betting money on who would win.
Aubrey had a huge smirk on her face and was chanting Zane's name along with some other kids who were on his side.
Zane landed a punch on Bronc's chest and sent him flying backwards. A lot of people oohed and cheered.
Aubrey suspected no teachers would be on the scene for at least ten more minutes. They didn't really care about the students, and they were all preparing for class anyway.
Bronc picked himself up and kicked Zane down, jumping on top of him.
Some of Bronc's supporters cheered his name as he slapped Zane across his face.
"Oh, we're bitch slapping now? Alright."
Aubrey's smile grew larger as she watched Zane pick himself off of the ground slap Bronc so hard his head hit the floor.
"What is going on here?"
Aubrey's eyes went wide and she looked to the right and saw one of the teachers trying to make their way through the crowd.
"Zane! Stop, the cops are here!"
He looked up at her, his fist inches away from Bronc's face.
"What?! Wait, we don't even have cops—"
"Just come on!"
She grabbed his arm and pulled him down the hall, falling in line with all of the kids scurrying away from the scene.
They ended up in another closet.
She sat him down and inspected his wounds.
"You think he'll snitch?" Aubrey asked as she touched a bruise on his arm.
He flinched and shook his head.
"I don't think so. You know Bronc. He's all about pride and looking strong. If he admits he got in a fight, he'll have to admit he got beat up. And I think the other students know he'll get them if they tell."
Aubrey nodded and used her shirt to wipe some blood off of his eyebrow.
"That was brave of you. To stand up for me, I mean."
Zane smiled a bit.
"Well, I couldn't just let him talk about you and your sister like that. The day I let someone disrespect you is the day I die. I'll protect you till the end, Aubrey." He looked into her eyes, staring deep into her soul. "I can't stand by and do nothing. And I may or may not have some slight anger issues."
"'Slight' is an understatement. But thanks." She kissed his cheek and sat back down. "But you have some wounds. And I am not letting you go all day like this, so we're going home."
Zane raised an eyebrow.
"Like, your house?"
"No, my secret lair underground."
Zane looked awed for a second, then he blushed.
"Oh."
"You didn't possibly believe—"
"No, no. It just surprised me, is all. Let's go."
They somehow managed to sneak out of the school. All of the teachers were grilling students about the fight, and Aubrey knew they were safe for the time being.
Aubrey knew her house was empty. Her parents were at the shop, and her sister was in school.
Aubrey bit her lip when she thought of where Arianna was.
Would she make it out alive? Would life go on if she died? Would Aubrey be alright? Why was everything in her life so horrible? Maybe someday far in the future, someone would come along and save her. Save Panem. Maybe one day they would all be free of worry and pain. Maybe one day they would be free of the games. As long as it happened someday, she'd be fine. President Snow could only reign for so long, and no one will miss him when he's gone.
Aubrey sighed and went back to more realistic thoughts. She couldn't afford to worry about something that might never happen.
When they arrived at her house, Aubrey opened the door and helped Zane inside. His leg was pretty bruised.
She sat him down on her bed and went to get some supplies.
Thankfully, he had no major wounds. Just bruises and scratches. She was no doctor, and she didn't want to accidentally kill him because she didn't know what she was doing.
She got some ice and wrapped it around a bruise on his arm. Then she rolled up his pant leg and placed some ice there.
She took a deep breath.
"Take off your shirt."
He looked at her in confusion.
"What?"
"You have a bruise on your chest and you need to take your shirt off."
He nodded and silently removed his shirt.
Aubrey pointedly avoided looking at his abs and focused on his bruise, which was on his side.
After applying ice there, she put a bandage on the cut on his right eyebrow.
After a couple of minutes, she finished treating him and just held his hand and sat next him.
It was silent until he spoke up.
"Thank you."
She looked at him.
"Thank you," he continued, "for helping me. I got myself in quite a lot of trouble." He chuckled a bit. "But thanks."
Aubrey nodded and stared into his grey eyes.
They were like mini pools of silver. Sometimes they look like metal, sometimes they looked like a storm. They even resembled clouds. Together they made a blue sky and puffy clouds. Or a wild ocean and a raging storm. She could get lost in his eyes. Lost and never to be found.
Little did she know, Zane was thinking the exact same thing as her.
"So are we going back to school or what? I am perfectly fine with staying here, but it would seem a bit suspicious to skip class after what happened this morning." Zane sat up.
"Well, you do make a good point."
"Of course I do."
She rolled her eyes.
"Whatever. Let's go, then."
Aubrey pulled Zane up, and they walked to school.
• • •
School that day was amazing for Aubrey, watching all of the kids bump and stumble into desks just to get away from her. She felt like she had a new sense of power, she felt like she was the one on top. After the fight, no one dared to mess with her. They didn't want Zane to kick their butts.
That day was also the first day of training for her sister, and Aubrey hoped that Arianna was making good use of her time and learning new things.
With that stupid escort telling her what to do, she seriously doubted it.
There were only four more days left until her sister would be thrown into the Arena. Some how, four days seemed like two seconds. There was only four days left of Aubrey knowing her sister was alive. When those days were up, all hell would break loose.
As if it hadn't already.
Aubrey walked home, passing through the Town Square again.
Aubrey scowled.
They were just playing the chariot rides again.
Even though Aubrey was angry, and she didn't like the fact that those nasty Capitol men where getting their rocks off her sister, she couldn't deny the fact that it was getting her sponsors.
Maybe guess the stylist wasn't that stupid.
People kept staring at Aubrey with pity, and looking her up and down. The people that dared to do that would have melted if looks could kill.
The day passed by quickly, as did the next, and before Aubrey knew what happened, it was time for the training scores. She didn't know what her sister did. All she hoped was that her score wasn't too low, or too high. Aubrey was very manipulative, and devious. She knew how to play her cards right, and she knew what the deal with scores was.
You get a high score, those pricks from the Career districts kill you because you might prove to be valuable and stand in their way of showing their honor. You get a low score, those pricks from the Career Districts want to kill you to pick the easy ones off.
Arianna will not be easy.
She might seem nice and cuddly, but she could really stand a lot. You could tease her and tease her, but she'd never snap. That is part of the reason why they tease Aubrey, because she would snap someones head off and let the anger get the best of her. Arianna could take everything in, and make you feel like shit without her even trying. She was powerful, and a wiz with emotions. She had made people cry with one glance.
That was her thing. That was what Aubrey was hoping would get her out of the Arena.
The training scores had started, and it was displayed on their crappy TV that every house had, even if they couldn't afford it. It was illegal to miss the Games.
District One was the usual 8-10 score for the Careers, and the boy got a 9 while the girl got a 8.
District Two's boy got a 10, and the girl got a 9.
Three's tributes were lame, and both got 4's. Not surprising.
District Four had somewhat strong Tributes, both of them getting 7's.
Six and Seven's tributes both scored low.
District Seven was turning out to be not such a strong Career District. The boy got a 6 and the girl got a 5.
District Eight's boy got a 3 and the girl a got a 7. Aubrey reminded herself to keep an eye on her.
The next three districts scored low.
It was time. Time to see what Arianna did. Aubrey would know what she did by the score she got. A high score means she either threw knives, or other small hand weapons. A low score meant that was going to be her strategy, or she tried something new.
The boy, Jones Harrell, got a 9. What the hell did he do? He was strong for someone who was starved for most of their life. He got a higher score than half of those pricks from the Career districts.
Aubrey was on the edge of her seat. Her whole family was sitting around the old TV.
"And last, but certainly not least, from District Twelve, Arianna Oric has received, a . . . 7!"
Her whole family cheered, but Aubrey didn't. A 7? What? That would mean the Careers would be getting suspicious, if they weren't already. First she made a splash at the Opening ceremonies, then she made a decent training score? She was quickly turning into a fan favorite, and she would be getting killed in the blood bath if the others could reach her.
Great.